Did you know that locusts use a very complex visual system to move around? Indeed, those small insects have a distinctive way of processing information through electrical and chemical signals, giving them an extremely fast and accurate warning system for impending collisions.

A team of researchers working on a MCA funded project have decided to apply the locust's unique vision system to a robot and the results are striking: the robot can navigate, detect and detour around objects! So, instead of using radar and infrared detectors, the robot uses its locust navigation system to avoid collisions.

The research team includes Julieta Sztarker an IIF fellow and her supervisor Dr Claire Rind, who said: “This research offers us important insights into how we can develop a system for a car which could improve performance to such a level that we could take out the element of human error.”